In October 2021, Students For Liberty launched the New Frontiers of Objectivism (NFO) program. The NFO program, headed by Martin Hooss, includes a nine-hour introductory course on Objectivism that Hooss himself developed. In addition to the course, students organize and host seminars, reading groups, and webinars—all based on Objectivism.
The NFO program is being launched in three phases. During the first phase in Fall 2021, the program was launched in South Asia and Latin America. Despite COVID-related challenges, SFL held fifteen NFO courses and seminars in South Asia, with a total of 407 participants. Among the participating countries were Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
In Latin America, SFL also held fifteen courses and seminars, with a total of 546 student participants. The participating countries were Bolivia, Colombia, Guatemala, and Venezuela.
During the second phase in February-March 2022, the NFO program was repeated in South Asia and Latin America, while new regions were added: Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Brazil.
In South Asia, a series of twenty local and campus seminars were held, totaling 353 participants from eight countries: Afghanistan, Australia, India, Indonesia, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. In addition to the seminars, two 4-week virtual reading group sessions brought together 20 highly motivated, well-prepared young people to study Objectivism more in-depth. While each of these sessions was planned only to last 90 minutes, the students continued active discussions after each session, with some sessions lasting up to 180 minutes.
In Latin America, SFL chose Honduras and Venezuela as seminar locations during phase two. Twelve seminars were initially planned, but, thanks to the initiative and activity of local coordinators involved in the project, they hosted eighteen, with a total of 315 participants. Most seminars were hosted on college campuses, while others were held in small rural towns that barely have access to electricity.
Among the participating African countries were Nigeria, Tanzania, and Zambia. Since Africa is a region newly added to New Frontiers of Objectivism, the goal was to hold eight local in-person seminars and two virtual reading groups. By the end of phase two, African Students For Liberty (ASFL) had met this goal and introduced 433 students to Objectivism, in spite of difficulties securing venues. (Some events overlapped with graduation ceremonies, which resulted in lower attendance.) Nevertheless, an Ayn Rand colloquium held in Tanzania turned out to be in great demand. Fifty-six participants from 14 different universities met in person to discuss how to apply the philosophy of Objectivism to their lives.
The NFO program’s first roll out in the Asia-Pacific region comprised four in-person seminars in Indonesia, with a total participation of 210 students. The topics of the four seminars were: ”Introduction and History of Ayn Rand,” ”Epistemology of Objectivism,” ”Humans and the Future of Freedom,” and ”The Morality of Objectivism.” The Indonesian students studied and discussed Rand’s ideas with great interest and are looking forward to the next phase of NFO.
The last country to be included in the second phase of NFO was Brazil. During the month of March, SFL Brazil organized ten Objectivism seminars, which included a series of virtual, local, and campus events held in five Brazilian cities: São Carlos, Joaçaba, Florianópolis, Belo Horizonte, and Palmas. The total number of participants was 1,074 students.
The third phase of New Frontiers of Objectivism will be launched in October and will include Europe and North America, as well as all regions previously included. Stay tuned for updates later this year. In the meantime, we wish all the students of the New Frontiers best premises in applying Rand’s ideas to their lives!
